City Bowls — Restaurant in Vestavia Hills

Here’s a polished and powerful version of your review you could post to Yelp, Google, or Uber Eats:

Extremely Disappointing In-Store Experience

I’ve been a loyal customer of City Bowls through Uber Eats for a while now and decided to finally visit the store in person. I arrived at 10:42 AM, just 12 minutes after they opened at 10:30, only to find that the staff was still prepping the line and clearly not ready to take any orders. I politely told them to take their time getting everything set up, thinking that courtesy would go a long way.

What followed was frustrating and unacceptable. A few minutes later, another customer walked in and one of the staff members immediately began taking their order, while I continued standing there — completely ignored — even though I had been waiting longer and had clearly communicated my patience and intent to order.

There were three employees behind the counter. Not one greeted me with a smile or even acknowledged me beyond a few uncomfortable glances. As a Black woman, it was especially disappointing to see how their tone and engagement instantly changed when a white woman walked in — suddenly they found their voices and energy.

After standing at the counter for five full minutes watching them focus entirely on online orders (which, by the way, were just sitting there with no one picking them up), I finally asked the guy — who made eye contact with me multiple times but still refused to engage — to take my order. I calmly let him know that in-store customers shouldn’t be neglected in favor of online orders. At that point, I was completely over it. This was my first and last time stepping foot in a City Bowls location.

If online orders are the priority, they should just operate out of a kitchen with a pickup window. The lack of basic hospitality, awareness, and professionalism was shocking. I’ll be making my own açaí bowls...

Let’s talk delicious and fresh for a moment. What are you doing right now? If you’re reading this review and wondering if you should check out City Bowls or not, the answer is yes. First, lets get some business out of the way. Parking, Ordering, Space, Service, Energy or what I like to call, POSSE.

Parking: there is plenty of parking, so no need to Uber.

Ordering: done via walkup counter, the menu is displayed on easy to read LCD screens behind the counter, and they will call your number when your order is ready for pickup.

Space: City Bowls is nestled at the end of an outdoor shopping center and has plenty of seating indoors. no booths or patio. Modern decor.

Service: CBs has a crack staff that works great as a team to ensure your order is right and gets to you quickly.

Energy: The energy of a restaurant or eatery comes from a combination of things; staff, décor, and ambiance. CBs music wasn’t overwhelming, the dining area was clean and spacious, and the staff moved with a purpose and seemed to enjoy creating these lovely little bowls of awesomeness. If they are having fun the energy pumps outwards to the customers. Loved it.

Now, the food! My bowl of amazing came up in less than 3 mins and the CBs was bustling when I got there. Patrons were friendly and each person I spoke with praised CBs and told me their favorites. I went with the Bham Bowl because, duh we’re in Bham. The bowl was fresh and popping with flavor. The base was a cool refreshing smoothie like treat, then a layer of granola, topped off with blueberries, freshly sliced bananas and strawberries. The best part, a generous squeeze of peanut butter on top to tie it all together.

Head out to visit City Bowls, their amazing staff, and friendly owners. You can...

so you know that scene in Holes when Zero and Stanley Yelnats finally reach the top of God's Thumb and they find all the sweet onions and they DIG IN because it's just too good and they've been starving in the desert for days...?!? THAT'S what going to City Bowls feels like - reaching the dang PROMISED LAND full of delicious, sweet smoothie bowls. like your hungry hole-digging days are over and you just stumbled upon a culinary miracle.

on a less extra note, i've had some good acai bowls in my day. real good. (no lie. in nashville. in bham. in barcelona on mediterranean sand. seriously.) but city bowls is my favorite. best in birmingham by a dang MILE. and even better than that exotic acai bowl in españa.

and I have a confession - am I writing this because city bowls said on instagram that if i wrote a google review i could win free bowls until december? YOU BET I AM. and honestly, i think that speaks for itself. i dropped what I was doing (and I am at work right now ppl!!!) to write this review because i want those dang bowls. also, i follow them on instagram. that's about as real as advertising gets for a milennial. this is an unpaid testimonial from just your average working girl who is willing to sacrifice her follower/following ratio for an account that literally only posts pictures of food. step aside travel bloggers. city bowls is doing the most and putting out the realest content and I AM HERE FOR IT. and for the bowls. and you should be too.

moral of the story - go get a city bowl today and you too will feel like Stanley Yelnats on top of...